'American Experience' examines Robert E. Lee

The image of Robert E. Lee has been glamorized for almost a century and a half. In cities from Richmond, Va., to Dallas, statues have been erected of him astride his beloved horse, Traveller.

Lee was the West Point-educated military man who made a name for himself in the Mexican War — a man whose commanding general called him the best soldier in the American army.

He was the man who turned down Abraham Lincoln, the president of the United States and the opportunity of a lifetime — to lead that American army against rebelling Southern states.

To lead that army, he would have to fight against his home state, Virginia, and the heritage he revered.

So he became general of the Confederate army, the one fighting against the Union.

Lee's path from promising American leader to failed rebel commander is examined in PBS' "American Experience: Robert E. Lee," premiering at 8 p.m. on Jan. 3 on KUED, Ch. 7.

The documentary features historians, Lee biographers and professors talking about Lee's strengths and weaknesses. They assess his successes and don't shy away from his failures and weaknesses.

Some revealing facts are covered in the documentary:

As a West Point cadet driven to succeed, he was a deeply perfectionist who aspired to be at the top of his class. "The number one is a fine number, easily remembered," he is quoted as saying. In his four years there, he was one of only six cadets with no demerits.

His wife, Mary Custis Lee, was the great-granddaughter of George and Martha Washington. She was a free spirit and prone to be less punctual than he.

He had a difficult temper and could be downright "nasty" to those he commanded.

He wasn't sympathetic to soldiers whom he thought "didn't do their duty." He directed that deserters be executed in full view of other soldiers.

The war caused him to lose the family estate in Arlington, Va.; his sons were financially beleaguered; and his daughters, homebound and unhappy, never married — partly because a generation of Southern men had died in Lee's army.

After the war, a bewildered Lee believed the wrong side had won the war. He believed that God was on his side and he was beaten only because of superior manpower and firepower.